Wednesday, December 08, 2010

Book Reviews

The Solace of Leaving Early was another re-read by Haven Kimmel and I loved it more this time than the last. So many great quotes, so many memorable characters. (And I like that the same characters pop up in the other books of hers.) And I really appreciate the tid bits of theology she adds to each of her books. I don't ALWAYS agree with her but nonetheless enjoy the thought provoking snip its. (My mom liked the scale judgment of books so I'll put my number at the end. This one's a 10 for sure)

Model Home was our book club read and was without a doubt one of the worst books I've ever read. Sadly, I missed the book club meeting tonight so I'm not sure how everyone else felt about it. But I did finish it. There was just nothing to it. It was a case study of a messed up family set in the 80's (and I really couldn't figure out why the author chose this decade) and I cared nothing about the characters or story line. I tend to like books that let you figure out characters and what makes them tick as the book goes along whereas I felt this book was just telling you about each person and what happened. No mystery about it and the only part I liked was the little poetry from their childhood in the last chapter....he should've written the whole book like that. (Mom this book was a 1. or maybe a -1)

Never Let Me Go was recommended by a book club member and I couldn't put it down. It's actually a bit of a sci-fi book but not in the alien/outer space/monster sense. Through the whole book you follow the lives of these young adults as they try to uncover the secrets of the boarding house they were raised in in England. (Hint but not spoiler because it tells you pretty early on.....it does have to do with clones and organ donors) Then I discovered it was a movie just released in Sept. although I'd never heard of it. The trailer looks pretty amazing so I think I will have to rent it. I liked it a lot. (I give it a solid 8)

On the trip to and from TN I read the first two Hunger Games books. Then saved the third for my convalescence period. I LOVED them. They are a teen fiction series (much like Harry Potter or Twilight...but I hated Twilight) so they are a fast read. It's a story set in the future and about how the corrupt government reminds the districts (there are no more states) of their power by holding a game every year in which a boy and girl from each one of the 12 districts has to fight to the death in a special "arena" they set up. Despite the gory plot, it's not a gory series at all. It is very suspenseful and the author did a great job of leaving you hanging at the end of each chapter so you'll find yourself saying "ok just ONE more chapter" but you'll say that until you finish the whole book in a day! So many topics are brought up in this series. The obvious ones would be government, power, war, justice. But the one I found most intriguing was the media aspect of it all and I think it sends a powerful message to teens (and to adults that read it too) about how things can be twisted and made to appear different on the news and on TV depending on who is in charge. Anyway I think people of all ages would enjoy this series and I give the first two a 10 but the last one didn't get good til the end so it's an 8....but you have to read all 3.

I re-read Haven Kimmel's memoir, A Girl Named Zippy and loved it once again. It's a 10. I think I've only got two more of her books to re-read. Then maybe I'll start on round three! I found a blog of hers too with book discussion posts and comments. Too bad the duscussions were like 2 years ago and comments are closed now! It's a 10. I give out a lot of 10's maybe I should give this a 9.5

Now I've started The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (sooooo many characters and I'm not even 100 pages into it!) and it's pretty good. I keep going back to this book of religious essays but I'm not sure I can finish it. I have to omany other interesting reads on hand at the moment.

I really want to read Never Let Me Go, it sounds so good. But I got dupped by my library and pulled a book off the new release shelf thinking I had found it only to get home and discover I had picked out Never Let You Go, which I read anyway. So now I put the correct book on hold and am waiting for a phone call from the library.

I felt about Model Home much how my mom felt about the movie Juno. She described it by saying "I thought it was sad and the language was foul". I finished the book, hoping for something to happen and for the family members to have any possible good outcome...NOTHING! I feel I wasted a portion of my life on that one. P.S. I liked Juno!

I'm on #2 of the Hunger Game series and I am really enjoying it. I hope my library can get me #3 real soon because I don't want to have to wait in between books. Hope your are improving daily,. Love ya, Mom aka Gma

Our Family

If You Didn't Already Know....

He's from Oregon, she's from Tennessee, they met at Oklahoma Christian University, fell in love, graduated, got married, and decided to stick around OKC. From pets to parties to parenting, this blog has chronicled their adventures in life together since their newlywed days.